Jewish Agency Members Leave Jerusalem for U.S. on First Flight of Israeli State Airline

February 1, 1949

JERUSALEM (Jan. 31)

Members of the executive of the Jewish Agency left by plane today for the United States to participate in a plenary session of the executive which is scheduled to be held in New York.

Eliezer Kaplan, Israeli Finance Minister, who was originally scheduled to fly to New York later in the week, joined the group today. Others in the group include Berl Locker, Dr. Israel Goldstein, Rabbi Wolf Gold, Jacob Zerubavel, S.Z, Shragai and Dr, Itzhak Werfel. Three members of the executive–Eliahu Dobkin, Moshe Kolodny and Levi Eshkol-Shkolnik–who were slated to be among those flying to New York, remained in Jerusalem in accordance with a last-minute decision that they carry on the executive’s routine work.

(A cable to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from Rome late today said that Kaplan and the members of the Jerusalem executive landed in Rome en route to the United States. They were passengers on the first flight of a plane of the Israeli state airline “Elal” which inaugurated a schedule of regular bi-weekly flights between Lydda and Paris.)